(1841–1900), U.S. miner and businessman. Born on Dec. 5, 1841, in Ireland, Marcus Daly immigrated to America in 1857, working first in New York and then as a miner in California. In 1876 his employers sent him to Butte, Mont., where in 1881 he formed his own silver-mining company. After buying out neighboring copper and coal mines and building a smelter, Daly—who became known as the Copper King—amassed a large fortune. He founded the city of Anaconda and developed it into an up-to-date center of mining and processing.